“I pushed you together and now she’s marrying you for your money,” she wailed.
“Well, thanks a lot, Mum. I thought I had other things going for me.” Sarcasm, he knew, was not becoming, but he was being pushed to the limit here.
“I’ll go out more. I’ll join clubs.” Her voice rose hysterically. “I’ll go on a diet and look after myself. You needn’t worry about me. I can make a life without any grandchildren.”
“Good!”
“So you don’t have to get married and...”
“I want to marry Peta Kelly and nothing you say is going to stop me, so you might as well accept it, Mum. I told you...it’s just like Dad with you...”
“Your father didn’t move this fast. Six days...it was six months before he proposed. He courted me. He did things properly. And I loved him...”
His chest went tight. So Peta didn’t love him. They’d settled on an arrangement. It would work. They wanted each other. It was enough. He dragged in a deep breath and released it on a sigh of determined finality.
“I have to go. I’ll be late for the christening if I don’t leave now. I’m sorry you’re upset, Mum, but I assure you, there’s no reason to be. Peta is not—absolutely not—marrying me for my money. Now please...” He tried an appealing smile. “...Just wish me well and let me go.”
“Why do you have to rush into it?”
Because nothing was going to change and celibacy didn’t suit him. Not where Peta Kelly was concerned. Unfortunately, he didn’t think his mother would appreciate that point.
“Mum...I’m going. You’ve got six weeks to the wedding if you want to start dieting. I would like the mother of the groom to turn up.”
He regathered his keys and headed for the front door.
“I can’t approve of this, Matt,” she called after him.
He paused at the door to look back at her. “It’s my life, Mum,” he said quietly. “My choice...my life.”
He left her on that note, thinking she would change her tune by this time next year. Once she had a grandchild to dote over, she would forgive and forget everything that had worried her.
A baby... Matt smiled to himself as he settled into his car for the trip back to Sydney. It would be great having a baby with Peta. It would bond them together as nothing else could.
As for love...
It would come.
It had to.
The feelings he had wouldn’t make sense otherwise.
The build-up of tension eased the moment Peta saw Matt’s forest green Jaguar turn into the church grounds. Her nerves stopped screaming. She could relax. He’d come. He wasn’t even late. Her family had arrived early, eager for a get-together before the christening ceremony began, and their curiosity about the new man in her life had forced her to field a lot of awkward questions.
“There’s Matt now,” she said, hoping the words sounded more like delight than relief.
“He drives a Jag?” Her brother, John, was clearly impressed.
“What did you say he does for a living?” Paul inquired, the classy car having put his mind in sharper focus.
“Matt owns and runs a merchandising company. It’s called Limelight Promotions,” Peta answered with exaggerated patience.
“Guess he’s used to getting what he wants when he wants it,” John reasoned.
Peta glared at him. “I am not marrying Matt for his money.”
Though she was glad he had it. As his mother said, it was much easier establishing a home and bringing up a family if there were no financial worries. Peta wanted the best for her children.
The Jaguar came to a halt in a parking slot. The driver’s door opened and Matt stepped out, looking even more impressive than his car, his splendid physique enhanced by a perfectly tailored navy blue suit and everything about him shouting top executive class.